Thanks to underperforming box office, many people didn’t expect the film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to get its sequel. But then again, who expected Lisbeth Salander to be a hero? Who expected quiet Sweden to be a hotbed for serial murders? Who expected Led Zeppelin to lend their music to the opening credits? This is a true victory in the war against skepticism: Sony has confirmed that a sequel is officially underway.

Steven Zaillian, the screenwriter who adapted The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has penned an adapted script of the series second part, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and is reportedly working on one for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (the third and final part of The Millenium Trilogy). Sony plans to produce both films. However, there will be at least one major change: director David Fincher might not be involved due to a conflict with a passion project of his—a new film adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Fincher, director of modern classics such as Se7en, Fight Cluband The Social Network, wants to attach his dark, introspective trademark to the classic Jules Verne story about Captain Nemo’s travails through the ocean. Due to the schedules of both films, it is unlikely that Fincher would be able to return as the director for the upcoming Millenium Trilogy installment.

So the question is: who might be a worthy candidate to handle The Girl Who Played with Fire? Fincher definitely put a very Fincher spin on the first film. Is there a director out there with a powerful and applicable vision for the upcoming sequel?